The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position."[1] Album of the Year is the most prestigious and final award category at the Grammys having been presented since 1959. Although it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the main artist, the featured artist(s), the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer. In 1962, the award name was extended to Album of the Year (other than classical) but, in 1965, the shorter name returned. It was not until 1968, 1969, 1999, 2011, and 2014 that the award was won by a rock, country, hip hop, indie, or electronic music album respectively. As of 2012, classical albums are eligible for this award, with the award for Best Classical Album being discontinued.

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Achievements[edit]

Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Daniel Lanois (as producer) and Bob Ludwig (as mastering engineer) are the biggest winners in this category with three victories each. Bob Ludwig is the only person to win the award three consecutive years (2013-2015). Paul McCartney leads all performers with nine nominations: five as a member of The Beatles, three for solo albums, and one as a member of Wings. Frank Sinatra leads solo performers with eight nominations, seven for solo albums and one for a duet album. Paul McCartney and Paul Simon are the only artists with nominations in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s.

The youngest album artist to win is Taylor Swift, who won the award for Fearless in 2010 at the age of 20. The Peasall Sisters, Sarah, Hannah and Leah, are the category's youngest credited winners, winning for their contributions to the album O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack at the ages of 13, 9, and 7 respectively. Leah Peasall is the youngest winner of any Grammy in any category.[2] The youngest person to make an appearance on an Album of the Year is Stevie Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris who appeared on "Isn't She Lovely?" off the album Songs in the Key of Life as an infant.

Only two artists have ever been awarded the Grammy for "Album of the Year" in two consecutive years, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. Sinatra had wins in 1966 and 1967 and Wonder followed with wins in 1974 and 1975. Wonder and Sinatra both won the most Grammys for Album of the Year within a decade. Sinatra had wins in 1960, 1966 and 1967, while Wonder had wins in 1974, 1975 and 1977.

Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, and Lady Gaga are the only artists to receive three consecutive nominations in this category, with Gaga being the only solo artist to receive a nomination for their first three albums.